Naru Narusegawa
Naru Narusegawa (成瀬川 なる Narusegawa Naru) is a fictional character and the female protagonist in the Love Hina series by Ken Akamatsu. Known for her fiery temper and tendency to use physical violence to punish central character Keitaro Urashima, she is the first female introduced in the series who is trying to pass the entrance exams to the University of Tokyo or Tokyo U as they refer to it. Her studies along with her developing relationship with Keitaro is one of the focal points in the manga and anime. The word Naru means "to become" while her surname Naruse-gawa means "the Naruse River" or possibly "to become a raging river". Her Japanese seiyu is Yui Horie and her English voice actor is Dorothy Elias-Fahn. Profile At the start of the story, Naru is a 17-year-old prep school student and resident of Hinata Inn. She came to live there when she was just in junior high (because of problems with her step family). Naru is characterized by her signature hair antenna (which is only shared by one other character in the series, Mutsumi), short and hot temper, immense strength and agility despite her size, and physically aggressive nature when it comes to Keitaro. Because of this, Naru is described as being "one fuse short of a cannon". This side of her is usually reserved for Keitaro. The other residents of Hinata Inn, of whom she is protective, care for Naru like a sister. She is reliable, kind, caring, and responsible. They all cheer her on and support her during her studies. As the story progresses, the girls become envious of Naru, because of her beauty and most importantly because of her relationship with Keitaro. Some are driven to the point where they start to dress and act like her. Despite attempts to break them apart, the girls eventually see Naru as a role model to follow and be like in the future. Of all the girls in the Hinata House, she is victimized the most by Keitaro's clumsiness which often results in her being naked or exposed in some fashion, touched or grabbed inappropriately, or lying in very suggestive positions, she is also the one who usually hits Keitaro when he is in this situation with other girls (despite the fact that it's almost never his fault or an accident). This is further tempered by the fact that his room is directly underneath hers, a hole in the ceiling connects the two making for easy access, and they study together most of the time. Once (In Chapter 26), she beat Keitaro up because she entered his room while he was changing and later explained that hitting him had become an involuntary reaction. These situations along with her quick retribution thereafter are a recurring element in the series. Her attacks become increasingly more volatile as the story progresses. Despite her reactions towards him, Naru finds her day to feel highly off-center without any of Keitaro's unintentional perversions. She develops strong feelings for Keitaro, though initially has great difficulty in coming to terms with them. Naru's conflicting emotions causes her to become extremely jealous of his closeness with the other girls while at the same time stay in a state of denial and emotional unsteadiness. Because of her aggressive yet caring personality, Naru is a best known example of the tsundere character archetype. Naru owns a Liddo-kun doll that Keitaro gave her when she was two years old; it was originally Mutsumi's but she gave it to him to give it to "Na-chan" as a love gift. Mutsumi has also given Naru a flying onsen turtle, named Tama-chan, and a kiss as a sign of forgiveness and thanks for helping her get back to her home after the entrance exams. Her character follows along with the beautiful-nerd disposition with the exception that she is actually very spontaneous and sometimes quite clumsy. Like Keitaro, she strove to get into Tokyo University because of a promise she had made to someone in the past. She is very intelligent, having placed Tops in the nation on the college practice entrance exams at the same cram school that Keitaro was enrolled in. However, this was not always so as was shown that several years before the beginning of the story Naru was like Keitaro, having horrible grades and little hope of passing. She was able to overcome this by constantly studying under the guidance of Noriyasu Seta, whom she had a crush on at the time. However, this resulted in a decline in her social activities as well as damaging her eyesight. When not using contacts, she has to wear glasses with thick lenses. Despite her dedication to her studies she failed to pass the Tokyo University entrance exam the first time but was able to pass the second time around. One of her goals is to become a teacher. Towards the end of the series she finally confesses her love for Keitaro. In the anime, she does this several times in the specials but eventually culminates in one moment when she screams it out and kisses Keitaro passionately. Manga vs Anime There is a toning down of fan service involving Naru that is more prevalent in the manga than the anime. Her first encounter with Keitaro in the hot springs is more revealing in the manga after she mistakes him for Mitsune "Kitsune" Konno due to her not wearing her glasses or contacts at the time. She then proceeds to follow him relentlessly, after several embarrassing run-ins around the house, so as to protect the other girls. She is also more prone to being exposed, grabbed, or depicted in very provocative positions which are heavily played on in the Love Hina series. Naru is much more tolerant of Keitaro when he first arrived in the anime, however, half-way through Volume 1 in the manga, she participates in the "Get Rid of Keitaro Plan" devised by the other girls and becomes the coldest of the group towards him. In the manga, Naru made promises with three people that she would get into Tokyo University. At first, she did it because of her crush for Seta. However, it started when Naru was only two years old and living in Hinata when she and Keitaro promised to go to Tokyo University together. Because she was too young, Naru could not remember that promise. She had also promised Mutsumi Otohime to go to Tokyo University in an effort to be reminded of her promise with Keitaro. The anime only includes her promise to Seta and only lightly follows yet never reveals any such childhood promises. The manga also follows Naru's relationship with Keitaro longer and more closely after they both pass their entrance exams. The main focus of the story switches to their feelings, commitment mishaps and problems, and insecurities—all of which are often depicted in comical manner. Rather surprisingly, Naru is initially the one to ask Keitaro if he wanted to take their relationship to another level. The series ends with them having developed a more mature and committed relationship. In the epilogue set four years later, Naru marries Keitaro fulfilling their childhood dreams. The anime ends before this happens. Appearance Plot Manga Anime Character Design Naru was initially supposed to have an immediate crush on Keitaro (this trait was later passed on to Shinobu Maehara), as well as liking to take care of others. She was supposed to fall through the roof for no apparent reason, land on Keitaro and lose her memory. She would then be given the name "Midori" by Keitaro. She was also supposed to be very clumsy and working for charity, these traits were later moved to Mutsumi Otohime. Concept Gallery Parakelese_Naru_Art.png|Pararakelse artwork of Naru Naru Battle of Hinatasou Concept.png|Naru's Outfit from the Battle of Hinatasou Naru Concept.png|Original Concept Art of Naru Naru Concept 2.png|Original Concept Art of Naru Naru Concept 3.png|Original Concept Art of Naru Naru Faces.png|Faces from the original Concept Art Naru Sick.png|Early sketch of Naru Naru_Face.png|Early sketch of Naru Naru Clumsy.png|She was initially supposed to be very clumsy File:LHANaruconcept.jpg File:LHANaruconcept2.jpg Gallery File:DVDCoverNaru.jpg File:NaruSchool.png File:Naru_Possessed.png File:Love_Hina_22_1.png File:NaruMeiYoung.jpg File:Naru1.jpg File:NaruStretch.jpg File:NaruKeitaro.jpg File:Love_Hina_1_9.png Trivia *As noted in chapter 5, Naru’s height is 163cm, her BWH measurements are 83.56.86 *Personality-wise, the main heroine for Negima! Magister Negi Magi, Asuna Kagurazaka, is very similar to Naru. They are both attracted to older men (Asuna likes Takahata Takamichi. Naru likes Noriyasu Seta). They also both act very violently towards the main male leads (Negi and Keitaro respectively) but eventually warm up to them and generally cares for them. *A frequent cosplayer, Kanon Urashima's costumes have been the inspiration for some of the outfits Naru wears. Category:Characters